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Rosh Hashanah 19b

ראש השנה י״ט ע״ב

Learn Rosh Hashanah 19b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Rosh Hashanah 19b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

מגילת תענית after the חורבן, the messengers announcing the new month, and the lengths of the אדר months

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a source that showed the days of מגילת תענית still being kept after the חורבן. The גמרא explains that this is a dispute between רבי מאיר and רבי יוסי. It concludes that חנוכה and פורים were never cancelled, while the other days were. Next it returns to the משנה about messengers. They are sent in תשרי as well as אלול because אלול can be given an extra day when needed. In that case it is better to lose ראש השנה than all the later holidays. The גמרא then notes that our משנה sends no messengers for אדר שני, unlike רבי. It explains this as a dispute over whether the added leap month has a fixed length. Several traditions follow about how long the two אדרים are, including a ruling that the אדר before ניסן is always short. רב נחמן begins to challenge that ruling from a משנה about breaking שבת for ניסן, and the challenge continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וַחֲכָמִים מְטַהֲרִין.

And the Sages declare it pure.

תַּנָּאֵי הִיא.

It is a dispute of Tannaim.

דְּתַנְיָא:

As it is taught in a baraita:

הַיָּמִים הָאֵלּוּ הַכְּתוּבִין בִּמְגִילַּת תַּעֲנִית,

These days which are written in Megillat Ta'anit,

The steps (25)

  1. ChallengeThe end of the earlier source
  2. ResolutionA dispute between תנאים: רבי מאיר and רבי יוסי
  3. ConclusionTwo rulings that seem to clash
  4. ChallengeThe two rulings contradict each other
  5. Resolutionחנוכה and פורים stayed; the other days were cancelled
  6. StatementBack to the משנה: messengers in אלול and תשרי
  7. ChallengeWhy do they need to go out in תשרי too?
  8. ChallengeBlocking the answer that אלול might have an extra day
  9. ResolutionIt never happened only because it was never needed
  10. ChallengeBut then ראש השנה would be ruined
  11. ResolutionBetter to lose ראש השנה than all the holidays
  12. ProofThe משנה's wording supports this
  13. StatementThe משנה leaves out אדר שני, so it does not follow רבי
  14. ProofThe ברייתא where רבי says messengers go out for אדר שני
  15. QuestionSuggestion: they argue about doing אדר שני's מצוות in אדר ראשון
  16. RejectionNo: everyone agrees, and they argue about the length of the leap month
  17. ProofThe ברייתא: is the added month thirty days or 'a month'?
  18. ChallengeBut people can count 'a month' too
  19. Resolutionרב פפא: 'a month' lets the court choose either length
  20. StatementBoth אדרים are declared on the thirtieth day
  21. StatementThis testimony excludes a different tradition
  22. StatementThe court may make the אדרים full or short
  23. Statementרב: assume one full and one short
  24. StatementThe אדר before ניסן is always short
  25. ChallengeWhy break שבת for ניסן if אדר is fixed?